Partnering with faith and community organizations is a proven means for schools to boost attendance, improve behavior, and achieve measurable gains in learning. Not surprisingly for many schools, the task of seeking out and sustaining these partnerships frequently gets pushed to the bottom of an endless to-do list. A proven way to reap the benefits of community partnerships is for a school to designate a skilled, experienced person for precisely this job. A school-community partnership coordinator should work as an integral part of a school leadership team and can help with:

Raising money and in-kind resources to support endeavors that meet student needs.

Identifying and establishing relationships with community partners, including faith-based organizations and businesses.

Creating or enhancing a volunteer recruitment and management system.

Integrating students' families into a school's goals and activities.

A partnerships coordinator can work directly for the school or for a community-based nonprofit partner. When an external organization manages this post, it can help ensure the coordinator isn't redirected to other pressing school needs. School partners can also help raise funds to support and sustain this position.

Community-based organizations and schools seeking to strengthen collaboration should consider the following elements of high-quality CBO-school partnerships:

Managing collaboratively. Jointly establishing program direction and priorities, planning, budgeting, training and aligning program staff, communicating across the partnership, and continuously improving program services.